This is the second program designed by artistic director José Manuel Carreño, who took over the company last fall, and if this first season is anything to go by, he seems to be honing a contemporary edge for Ballet San Jose, looking for a balance between provocative and traditional. His choices have given the company a fresh energy and modern sensibility that feels very comfortable on the troupe of 32 dancers.

While such experiences may not strike knowledgeable readers as surprising, they are nevertheless engaging because Copeland tells them so honestly. One might expect the “fat meeting” to spark a commitment to nutritious eating or a debilitating battle with anorexia. Instead, it led to bulk deliveries of Krispy Kreme donuts. “My binges sparked a whole range of emotions,” she writes. “I would feel comforted at first, then defiant as I thought of how I was ignoring the not-so-subtle entreaties for me to lose weight and was choosing to stuff myself instead. They want me to lose weight, I’d think out loud, taking a sugar-crusted bite. I’ll eat what I want! But in the morning, I’d feel awful, my stomach tight, my body racked with guilt.”